slaves

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism, VIDEO REELS

The Legend Of The Flying African Caused By A Mass Suicide Of Slaves

In May 1803 a group of enslaved Africans from present-day Nigeria, of Ebo or Igbo descent, leaped from a single-masted ship into Dunbar Creek off St. Simons Island in Georgia. A slave agent concluded that the Africans drowned and died in an apparent mass suicide. But oral traditions would go on to claim that the Eboes either flew or walked over water back to Africa. For generations, island residents, known as the Gullah-Geechee people, passed down the tale. When folklorists arrived in the 1930s, Igbo Landing and the story of the flying African assumed a mythological place in African American culture. Though the site carries no bronze plaque and remains unmarked on tourist maps, it has become a symbol of the traumatizing legacy of trans-Atlantic slavery. Poets, artists, filmmakers, jazz m...

Black deaths matter: The centuries-old struggle to memorialize slaves and victims of racism

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Black deaths matter: The centuries-old struggle to memorialize slaves and victims of racism

In an open lot just a block or so from where George Floyd was killed while being detained by officers, 100 plastic headstones were carefully placed. Created by artists Anna Barber and Connor Wright, the “Say Their Names Cemetery” sprung up in south Minneapolis in early June, as protests over police brutality prompted a more wide-ranging conversation over the legacy of slavery and racism in the United States. Each headstone documents a victim of police violence – their name, age, date and location of death. Accompanying the biographical information reads a simple epitaph: “Rest in Power” – a reworking of “rest in peace” that has gained popularity among Black Lives Matter activists and supporters to commemorate the dead. #SayTheirNames The cemetery forms part of a wider #SayTheirNames camp...

Faith made Harriet Tubman fearless as she rescued slaves

3Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Faith made Harriet Tubman fearless as she rescued slaves

Millions of people voted in an online poll in 2015 to have the face of Harriet Tubman on the US$20 bill. But many might not have known the story of her life as chronicled in a recent film, “Harriet.” A portrait from 1868 of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz Harriet Tubman worked as a slave, spy and eventually as an abolitionist. What I find most fascinating, as a historian of American slavery, is how belief in God helped Tubman remain fearless, even when she came face to face with many challenges. Tubman’s early life Tubman was born Araminta Ross in 1822 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. When interviewed later in life, Tubman said she started working when she was five as a house maid. She recalled that she endured whippings, starvation and hard work even before she ...

US marks 400 years since first Africans arrived as slaves

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

US marks 400 years since first Africans arrived as slaves

Slave trade leaves bitter legacy for African Americans and still mars race relations in US. The United States is marking the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the English colony of Virginia 400 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of Africans from what's now known as Angola would soon follow. The commemoration comes at a time when the US president is accused of creating a culture where white nationalism and racism can flourish. by Alan Fisher Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports from Hampton, Virginia.